Stablecoin issuer Tether reportedly owns nearly 80 tons of gold, a significant reserve backing its assets. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the gold is held in a highly secure, undisclosed vault located somewhere in Switzerland.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the gold reserve—valued at approximately $8 billion—is stored in what he described as “the most secure vault in the world.” However, for security reasons, the company has declined to disclose the vault’s exact location or when it was established.
The bulk of the gold is owned directly by Tether, making the company one of the largest private holders of gold globally—comparable to the metal and commodity reserves held by banking giant UBS Group. This positioning places Tether among the top gold holders outside of banks and nation-states.
In his interview with Bloomberg, Ardoino highlighted the growing demand for safe-haven assets like gold in contrast to traditional fiat currencies. He explained that Tether’s decision to maintain its own vault rather than rely on third-party vault operators was influenced by the rising value of gold and the cost of storage.
“Gold, I think, should logically be a safer asset than any national currency,” Ardoino said. “If people start to get concerned about the increasing debt levels of the United States, they may begin to look for alternatives.”
Gold has seen a significant rally in the past year, rising as much as 38.5%, according to Trading Economics. It reached a record high of $3,390 per ounce on April 21 and currently trades at around $3,289. Like Bitcoin, gold is often seen by investors as a hedge against inflation.
“Every single central bank in the BRICS countries is buying gold—that’s one of the main reasons for the price surge, in our opinion,” Ardoino added.
In April, Tether issued 7.7 tons of physical gold to back its digital asset, Tether Gold (XAUT), which is fully backed by physical gold on a 1:1 basis. As of now, XAUT’s market capitalization stands at over $811 million.
